Journey
by Lyrinneia
Summary: The year is 14 ABY. Now 18, Lerina Da'len leaves Nar Shadda in search for a new meaning to her existence. The unexpected fires at her when she discovers something special about her and her family when she is taken prisoner by the honorable Mandalorian An'kin Cassus. By Lyrinneia and An'kin. NOTICE: Chapter content is released in parts and is subject to merge into their actual chaps
1. Chapter One

**CH 1**

**Lerinneia Da'len. Planet: Nar Shadda. 2237 hours GST. The slums. 14 ABY.**

Today is her birthday. Today she is eighteen. Today the cartels search for her pretty face. Today is the thirteenth anniversary of her parents' death. Lerinneia, or Lerina for short, may have only been a girl of five years when her mother and father were killed by the damn Empire, but she has survived alone in the hell hole known as Nar Shadda. It may not have been the most glorious and honorable existence in the galaxy, but on this retched world, only the Hutt cartel cared about glory.

Lerina sighed and whispered to herself, "Thirteen years huh?" She sat in the darkness of the abandoned apartment, hidden from the slimy fingers of the overgrown worms. Or so she hoped. As she tried to concentrate on the activity outside, her mind couldn't be helped but to be drawn back to the gruesome seen all those years ago.

She remembered herself running back home from her neighbor's apartment. The door was fully open when she had arrived and she walked in only to find herself stepping in blood. Before her stood one of the empire's agents. He stared at her for a moment and walked out. As he walked past her, she spotted her father lying on the floor, his head staring at the opposite wall. In denial she had walked over to the body and said with a small smile, "Daddy who was that man? Why is there red stuff on the floor?" When he didn't answer her she stood there in defiance. "Daddy why are you ignoring me? Why are you sleeping on the floor?" She had pulled her father's hand to help him up, but he was too heavy for her small body and her slumped back into his red puddle. Tears had taken hold in her eyes. "Daddy? Daddy?" Lerina sobbed. "Daddy stop ignoring me! Wake up! It's not bed time yet!" Upset she had gone to the back rooms in search of her mother only to find her too lying in a pool of blood. "Mommy! Mommy wake up there is something wrong with Daddy!" She cried to the corpse that used to be her mother. When her mother never answered her pleas and cries, the tears would no longer run down her cheeks. She looked at her bloody covered feet. She knew when she had walked in on her father that he was dead. She just didn't want to believe it. But now there was no choice but to understand.

From that point in her life to the present day she had not shed a single tear. There was no point in crying. It wasn't going to bring her family back. All she had figured she could do was learn the way of the street. She had been left alone on an unforgiving planet. No one but the Hutt Cartel would help her, but even a five year old girl knows to keep clear of them.

Although Nar Shadda was not the best place for a young girl to be on her own, it did help her in some ways. She knew if she needed something she would have to work for it. She knew a variety of martial skills in which she only used to defend herself and make money through street matches. In a way, she was glad to have had the opportunity to learn how to fight. For one she was the top fighter in the poorly organized matches so she could scrape together some form of income, and two she could defend herself against the thugs selling teenage girls to the Hutts as prostitutes.

But now the Hutt Cartel is hunting her. They wanted a share in her profits from the matches. The slimy worms wanted her to work for them. Which in her mind, both was never going to happen. She may be young and naïve, but she did wise up and adapt quick. The Cartel's men closed in on her now as if they were hunting dogs.

As she sat in the dark she looked for solutions. She knew bringing a knife to a gun fight was not a good idea, and a gun she did not have. Only two options had come up. One, she could just give up and go work for the damn slugs, as if, or she could get off Nar Shadda and go somewhere from the Cartels. The second option seemed ten times more appealing than the first. It was not like she would miss Nar Shadda. Lerina hated the place, and would probably be happy to watch it go up in flame from orbit. Her goal was set then, make it to the spaceport without being seen by the Hutt's lap dogs and stow away on a cargo ship. Easier said than done but hey, it was a plan.

She waited a few hours before she set out for the space port. It only took a thirty minute walk to get to her destination. She walked into the Space port without being seen and wondered into one of the bays. Luck was with her today for she didn't have to search long to find a cargo ship not headed to another part of this poor excuse of a planet.

The ship she decided to stow away on looked much more massive in size in comparison to other ships she had seen. Off in a dark part of the room, she hid and studied the crew and what they were loading onto the ship. The crew loaded a variety of beams metals and boxes. They seemed to have a lot more to go. Lerina chose one of the boxes close to her in the back. When she opened it she saw it was full of rations. She took her time to clear the box of all of its cargo and hid them somewhere where no one would notice them. She was thankful it was a box of food for she took some of it with her and hoped it would be enough to sustain her on the trip. Making sure no one was around to see her, she climbed into the enormous box and shut herself in. All that was left to do now was to wait.

**Lerinneia Da'len. Planet: Gree. 1347 GST. Warship construction sight. 14 ABY.**

It was a long journey. Lerina had run out of food the day before but thankfully the ship had come to a landing. She could hear men unloading the cargo one by one. They sounded far on the other side of the room. Even so, it was not the time for carelessness. She had to be silent and agile if she wanted to leave the ship.

Lerina opened the lid just enough to see what was going on around her but not enough for the workers to notice the lid was ajar. No one was around. She slipped out of the crate and closed the lid. Crouching behind her box, her eyes darted around the room. Lerina spotted her next place of cover. If she was going to succeed she would have to keep moving. She snuck to her next spot and repeated the process a few times. She paused for a moment. She saw protective cover. These workers worked fast than expected. Any farther and she would be surrounded. She watched with suspense as the crew work diligently.

"Hey you there!" called a voice from behind her. A guard maybe? She turned her head to see who was shouting only to discover a worker nearly on top of her position.

There was no point in hiding now that the alert was spreading to all the crew members. Lerina dashed toward the exit, thankful the man who sounded the alarm was a bit lower than her. However, she still needed to focus on what was coming at her from all sides. Only about five men stood between her and the exit, not counting the horde coming at her from all the other sides. The first man, strong, tall, and young, reached to grab her as she passed by. Lerina dropped to her knees and slid to dodge. She was thankful for her small build for he was not able to catch her due to her quick change of stance. The one thing she liked about being small was she could easily change direction if needed.

The second man was a bit older than the first but looked more muscular. Not to worry, she would get past him. As she continued to slide, she rose to her feet and pounced over the man, using his own shoulder as leverage.

Lerina picked up speed, dropping herself to the ship's deck as quick as she did the first time. She flew underneath the third man and rose back to her running position when out of nowhere; one of the workers tackled her, almost stopping her escape. In midflight, Lerina noticed the man wore a helmet and threw it off his head. When they hit the ground, she was sure to acquire the top position. Without his helmet, his face was vulnerable to her fists but, the man was smart enough to throw her off of him.

Lerina landed on her back and came to a halt. The man, however, landed on his feet and stood over the girl. He put his foot on her chest to keep her pinned down. Without hesitation, Lerina shoved the man's foot off of her, kicked his shin, and got back up to her feet. The man started to wobble on his newly hurt leg but went for the knockout punch. When he swung time seemed to slow down. She brought her arm across her face to block. When she moved her arm into place and prepared for the blow, a blaster flew across the seen and hit the man in the face causing him to miss and finally tumble to the ground.

She stood in her defensive stance shocked. She pondered on where the pipe came from and just how did it move on its own to save her skin? By the time it took her to come to her senses once more, she was already surrounded with the crew's weaponry pointed at her. The watched her cautiously. She dropped her arms and stood in her normal stance.

She observed the crowd. "I know when I am beaten." She said as she raised her hands above her head. One of the men walked over to her and another to the man whose shin she had just broken. The man, the first one she dodged, placed binds around her wrists and moved aside. From the crowd emerged a little taller than average man in black in blue armor.

"Well, now, what do we have here? A stowaway? A Jedi? Spy? " He said through his helmet in a calm yet surprised tone.

Lerina said nothing but only shot him an angry glare.

"Take her to the detention center. I need to report our little find to my father." He commanded in a soft yet firm voice.

Two of the warriors stood by her flanks. Hey at least it's not Nar Shadda. She sent a sly smirk to the commander. "Tell the Captain I said thanks for the lift," she teased. One of the only good qualities she discovered about herself was no matter how much trouble she could find herself in, in a way, she could be optimistic.

Her two escorts lead her to one of the many small cells on the compound and locked her in. She wondered over to the far corner and sat on the cold floor. "He forgot to take the cuffs off me," she sighed quietly to herself. Lerina silently cursed herself for freezing in combat. If she didn't freeze would she have been able to get away? I did not really matter now; she was locked in a cell. What did matter was what they were going to do to her. She did not have to wait very long to find out.

The warden walk in a few times asking questions multiple times, just fishing for information. He asked over and over, "Are you a Jedi?" and "Who are you?"

To his first question she answered, "No," and to his second all she said was "I'm just a lil' girl from Nar Shadda that stowed away on your convoy." The second time he asked those questions Lerina told him, " I just told you why would you ask again?" The third time he asked she just sighed with an annoyed look on her face. The fourth time she just straight up ignored him.

When he finally left, it wasn't long before some other nosey worker walked in. Except this one was different, she noted, he carried a command presence around him. His armor was black and white with a blue cape. She didn't know why but his presence kind of pissed her off. As far as she knew he hadn't done anything to her, yet there was something about him that triggered feelings that made her want to put her fist through his helmet. Lerina noticed him studying her face and she shot a hateful glare at him.

"What are you going to do with me?" She asked with an obvious defiant and stubborn tone.

"Well, for right now, I just want to ask you a few questions. I promise you I'm not going to hurt you." He answered. Lerina just laughed then turned her head to look at her shackles. If he was here to hurt her, or interrogate her, the binds would make it considerably difficult to fight back. "Here I'll show you I don't mean to harm you." The man walked over and snapped off the shackles with startling strength. "Now," He continued, "Let's start from the beginning. What is your name?"

Names are pretty but useless, especially when no one knows you or cares. "What difference is it to you?" She answered back defiantly.

"I see." He said. "Just trying to get to know you a little more is all. Now tell me, where are you from? Did you stowaway on Nar Shaddaa?"

Lerina was being stubborn. She didn't want to answer the questions from her captures. Yet, what was the harm in giving them a little bit of information? She wasn't a spy after all nor would they find much information on someone who was once so off radar. If he went to Nar Shadda and asked the locals in the slums then he would get some answers, but it was doubtful him or any of him men would take the time to do that just to scrape together information which would have been likely false about their prisoner. But just what information did she want to feed him? If she could see his face she would be able to read his reactions better. The man sat and waited for her reply. She decided to finally answer him under one condition. "I'll answer your questions when you take that helmet off," she told him hesitantly.

Hesitantly, he removed his helmet. "There." He said. "Is that better?"

Lerina stared at the helmet. There was something familiar about it. The helmet pulled at something inside her that she couldn't understand. For some reason it tugged at her soul, but she couldn't reach the point of it all. They all looked like Imperials to her but this one… this one seemed different somehow.

She sighed. "My name is Lerina." She finally answered. "I'm from Nar Shaddaa."

"Alright then, how hard was that?" The man slowly got up and walked across the cell to sit next to her. She scooted away not giving him eye contact to hide she was studying him. "Why did you stow away?" He asked. "Do you have a family?"

Lerina did not answer but continued to listen to the tone of his voice, study his body language and facial expressions. It was obvious something was really bothering him. Was it obvious that something was pulling at her also?

"Your parents" He asked her, "They were killed years ago weren't they? By a bounty hunter?"

She looked into his eyes with surprise and was to stunned to say much. She could feel her long buried sadness and anger start to boil over to the surface like lava. How did he know her parents were dead? How did he know their fate? "How… how did you know that?" Her eyes began to tear up and slowly slipped from her eyes and down her cheeks. Her tears of anger and confusion were warm as they rolled down her cheeks.

The man's face turned into a frown. He looked lost in thought. Just what was he thinking about? How did he know? Who is this man? She stared at him diligently waiting for him to come back to his senses. The man stood, stepped toward the door, then look back into her eyes. His eyes, Lerina observed, were overflowing with regret. "You're safe here." He said in a quiet voice, "Whatever you need just ask and I'll have it sent for you." As he walked out, she saw the guard snap to attention.

Then the door shut once again. She was alone with her thoughts once more. "When he comes back," she mumbled as the tears rolled down her cheeks, "I will have some questions for him." Lerina wiped her face with her dirty sleeve. Her tears finally stopped their merciless flow.

**Lerinneia Da'len. Planet: Gree. 1800 hours GST. Bleeding Skullz Compound. 14ABY.**

Lerina sat alone in her cell for some time. Not that it mattered, but she lost track of how much time had passed by since the men threw her in the confined room. Curled up in a corner, Lerina pondered to herself. There were three things that mattered more than time. Who was that man? How did he know about the fate of her parents? How was she able to force a firearm to fly across the room? The last question bothered her the most for she had already guessed the man was one of their leaders and it wasn't exactly rare for a child to be made an orphan on Nar Shadda. What was rare was for someone to make a blaster hit someone in the head without touching it.

It wasn't the first time something flew across the room to save her hide. The last time it happened occurred just days before she left Nar Shadda and was one of the main reasons she was being hunted by the cartels. They had called her a Jedi then too; however she denied as she believed someone had simply thrown that object to help her. Now she wondered if it was her all along. What if they were right? What if she had the same powers of a Jedi? Impossible, she wasn't a Jedi, and even if she was she wouldn't purposely use her powers openly. There are many people who hated Jedi, and anyone associated with them. Using her powers would only put her in more danger.

She sat there for a few minutes and stared off into her own world, letting the "what ifs" linger in her mind a little longer. A voice called at her. She snapped out of her passive state and looked up. It was the warden. How long was she lost in her mind? She hadn't even noticed the man walk in. Lerina moved to her feet and looked at the warden with a suspicious glare.

"Come to ask me the same questions again?" Lerina teased.

"No. I've come to tell you it's your lucky day. I've been given orders to show you to your new room." He sighed.

"Is it smaller than this one or is it a glorified cell?" She poked.

"Neither." He took a deep breath. "I swear I wonder why he would make you an honored guest."

"Honored guest?" Lerina questioned in a quiet voice. "What's the catch?"

"Catch? I was not informed of that." He told her matter of fact-ly.

"There is always a catch." She told him.

The warden shrugged.

He led her down a maze of passageways and she wondered if he knew where he was going. Eventually they arrived at her new room in the guest quarters. There was a young man standing outside of her new room. The warden left her with him.

Lerina smiled. "So are you my guard?"

The man looked at her behind his helmet. Lerina couldn't tell if he was rolling his eyes.

"I'm just here to answer any questions you may have then I'll be on my way." He sighed. Lerina could tell he hated being sent on such a menial task.

"Just one," Lerina replied. "What's the catch?"

"The catch?" he questioned her.

"Yes the ca…" Lerina sighed. "Oh never mind," she finally gave up. With that she stepped into the room. It was at least three times bigger than her cell back in the detention center.

Lerina walked over to the window and peeked outside. From her room she could see the construction of some structure, however as it was still in its skeleton looking stage she couldn't even begin to guess what purpose it was going to serve.

She sat on the bed. To her it was very soft, however compared to the standards of those used to big soft beds; she knew in reality it was actually very firm. Why would that man make her an honorary guest? Something was very off and she could sense it too. This question poked at her for hours until she finally gave up on guessing. She might as well milk this situation while she can and enjoy herself. Why not? She was obviously a guest; the workers wouldn't really bother her now if she's found outside her room.


	2. Chapter Two

**Ch 2**

**Lerinneia Da'len. Planet: Gree. 0300 hours GST. Bleeding Skullz Compound. 14ABY.**

Lerina woke before many of the other residents on her floor and proceeded to prepare herself for the day before 0320. She took a deep breath and sighed. She couldn't lie, being in her unfamiliar room by herself in the early morning kind of unnerved her. She felt her emotions running high when an unfamiliar noise presented itself.

She ended up laughing at herself for being so silly. She waited until the dawn to exit her room. Lerina followed the officers to the mess hall for breakfast. The men shot her quizzical looks, but she didn't mind. She felt like a celebrity among all these rough men. She found her way back to her room. She couldn't get over the possibility that it was her that moved that blaster when she arrived, so she sat on her pondering when she looked over at the lamp next to the bed.

She smiled. "Don't you just love bad ideas?" Lerina whispered to herself. She focused all her mind on the small lamp. All she wanted to do was push it, just a little. If she did pull that rifle, maybe pushing this lamp will be the catalyst in unlocking and controlling her power.

She concentrated on the lamp until she couldn't see straight, but she was determined to accomplish the task. The door whooshed open, causing Lerina to jump sending the lamp crashing into the wall.

She looked at the man standing in her door. "That was not my intention." She gave an embarrassed smile. At least now she knew it was her that threw that blaster. Lerina studied the man at the door. Only a few days she had been at the compound and she already had many visitors. The young man standing at her door looked about her age and unlike most of the people she had come across on the base, his helmet was off.

"Of course, that's why you weren't staring at the lamp." He retorted.

"Well if I wanted to break the lamp I wouldn't stare at it, I'd throw it." She shot back. " But lamps are not why you're here. Is there something I can help you with or did you just visit for my charm?"

He seemed taken aback but quickly regained his composure. "Actually I was ordered to check in on you and make sure you're not dead or anything seeing as how you haven't come out your room since this morning."

"Well I'm alive. Is there anything else you need?" She shot a questioned look at him.

"You're not hungry?" He seemed surprised.

Lerina was silent for a moment then gave a quick chuckle. "Nope I guess not."

"Well if there is nothing you need I'll be taking my leave." He turned to the door.

She studied him. His black hair was kind of attractive she had to admit. "Wait."

"Yes?" He turned back toward her.

"What's your name?" She questioned.

He looked confused. She was confused herself as to why she wanted his name. "Kote," He replied. "Why?

"Just curious," Lerina said as she got up from the bed and hopped over the glass with her bare feet. "one more quick question. Where am I exactly?"

"You can't be serious. You don't know where you are?" He laughed.

Lerina shot Kote an annoyed glare. "Well, I didn't exactly ask the Captain ' Hey I'm stowing away on your ship, and I was just wondering where is this convoy headed?' So where am I?"

"Okay, okay I get your point. You're at a Mando'a compound. I don't know how much I'm allowed to tell you."

Lerina shrugged. "Well some information's better than none. Now if you excuse me I should probably pick up my mess before I step on it."

"Okay then. Have fun with that, Jedi." He chuckled as he walked out the door.

"How many times do I have to tell you people I'm not a Jedi." She said after the door shut. Lerina looked out the window. "Mandalorian compound, huh?" she said under her breath. "Well Lerina, don't you just love bad ideas."

She smiled. Tomorrow, she decided, she would explore the compound and have a little fun.

**Lerinneia Da'len. Planet: Gree. 1500 hours GST. Bleeding Skullz Compound. 14ABY.**

Lerina explored most of the compound and memorized the maze of halls. However there was only one room that interested her the most. The combat training room. As she stepped inside a smile crept across her face. She felt the excitement growing within her. To her, the equipment looked state-of-the-art. All the men turned away from their tasks to eye her as she walked in. Most shot confused and amused glares.

Shrugging them off, she stepped toward the mat in the center of the room where she saw a man sitting in wait of a challenger.

The man smirked at her. "What's a little Sheila like you doing here?"

Lerina rolled her eyes and laughed. "I'm sure I could ask the same of you." She paused to observe the man. "I know why you're sitting in the middle of the ring. Now, why do you think I'm here?"

Whispers and laughs started to erupt around the room. Tension rose among the crowd.

The bulky man scoffed, "I'm not going to fight a little immature punk. That would be too easy."

Lerina was silent for a moment and pretended to inspect her nails. "Immature punk, huh?" She looked up at him and matched the earlier smirk with one of her own. "Well, I'm sorry, for you at any rate, if you view me as little of a challenge. I do think you are overestimating your capabilities."

Laughs rose from the gathering crowd.

"Is that so?" The man questioned. She seemed to peek his interest as well as damaging his pride.

"Well, yes. You sit here and wait for a challenge instead of going and finding a challenge of your own." Lerina laughed, "And when a challenge finally presents itself to you, you refuse. Are you afraid of me? A little, what was it you called me? Sheila? Or are you going to fix your now injured pride by stepping up to my challenge."

The growing crowd laughed and cheered in amusement. There were now viewers in the crowd from other wings of the facility. It seemed every time she did something, everyone wanted to see what the outsider was capable of, and she was eager to show them.

The man rose, looking to the crowd for support from his brothers-in-arms, but all they did was laugh. "Alright, little missy, you win. You'll have your fight. But I'm warning you though," he looked her in the eyes trying to intimidate her, "this will be over quickly."

Lerina cackled, "Why yes. It will." He may have been stronger, but he was over confident in his ability, and Lerina was sure to exploit his weakness. Guessing by his large size, she saw that he needed more room to maneuver. She would exploit this as well.

He came at her throwing his strongest punches, none of them hitting as Lerina continued to ease her way back. As she let him wear himself out she looked for an opening. She circled the ring, coaxing him to follow.

Finally, she found it. She dove underneath his punches, took his center of gravity, and knocked him to the ground. Knowing she would not be able to keep her advantage of the mount for very long, she took ahold of his right arm and forced it into an arm-bar. However her hold was not strong enough, and he pulled his arm out.

Lerina was forced to flip back to get away from his attempt to pin her to the ground, but she made sure her foot hit him in the jaw in the process. Lerina was back to her feet and her opponent was to his knees. He looked exhausted from throwing those punches. The girl smiled for even as she had lost her last opening, she was sure not to lose this one. Lerina, using the man's leg as leverage, jumped and drove her leg across his face. He staggered back and almost fell all the way back to the mat.

The crowd cheered. She seemed to entertain them. Lerina moved to her opponent's back, putting him in a choke hold. He fell to his back in an attempt to crush her small body. As it did hurt, the man actually gave her an advantage. With the stunt he pulled, her choke only went deeper. Slowly she cut off blood circulation to his head; she could see in his eyes that she was putting him to sleep.

Over the roar of the crowd, Lerina heard what she least expected to here from a Mandalorian. He tapped out. She realized her hold on him and shoved him off of her. Lerina faced the crowd and smiled. She had just managed to embarrass another Mandalorian in front of his brothers. By now the room was almost full of cheering men and women. She had to admit, she was having more fun than she ever did in the fights on Nar Shadda, let alone the last two days she spent locked up in her room.

Lerina grinned at the man she embarrassed. "Still think I'm not a challenge?"

The exhausted man said nothing as he limped off the mat.

To her surprise a challenger arose from the crowd. It was Kote. He pulled a blade from the wall.

To her amusement, Lerina was happy she had a bit of experience with swords.

"How 'bout it little missy?" He challenged her.

"Let's go," she accepted as she chose her own blade from the collection. The crowd's cheers grew.

Both contenders charged and clashed their blades. They looked into each other's eyes. Kote smiled. "You really think you can win?"

"Are you sure you can take me down?" Lerina countered.

Kote laughed and pushed Lerina off his blade. He swung and missed. They stood there and looked at each other, waiting for the other to strike first. Lerina gave a small smile. Her impatience got the better of her . She raised her blade to strike, and Kote raised his to block her first attack. Kote placed one hand behind his back.

What did he hope to accomplish by giving her a handicap. Lerina advanced her attacks and Kote blocked everyone of them. Kote switched to offense. He swung his sword, trying to land a blow on Lerina but to no avail. As Kote swung his sword up, Lerina leaned back to dodge. The clashing continued. Kote started to aim for her back, and as she blocked, he move his sword with such speed he cut her thigh and kicked her away.

The crowd cheered at Kote's brilliant move. However, Lerina wasn't going to let him win over the crowd. She found her balance on her hurt leg. She was nowhere near out of this fight. Kote raised his sword to her. Lerina brought her sword to her side holding it with both hands. She gave Kote a determined look. Kote slowly advanced and swung his sword. Lerina hopped back, dodging his blow, then proceeded to jump towards him to bring her sword down upon him. Kote blocked and knocked her attack away. He swung for her head. Lerina ducked. Then he aimed for her legs. She jumped over his attack. They momentarily locked blades until Lerina pushed him off. They both switched their grip on their weapons. Kote finally deciding to use both hands, locked blades with her once more.

They clashed a few more times. Kote decided to do something daring. He tripped Lerina causing her to fall on her back, however it wasn't long before Lerina pulled him to the ground with her.

Both rose from the ground, blades raised. Lerina stepped in to close the gap but Kote stepped back. Then they charged. Kote gave three quick swings at Lerina, but he missed each time. Lerina switched her style. Instead of trying to face him head on like before, she was now quick and dodged almost every attack he could throw at her. She was letting him wear himself out. She charged at him again. He swung high, so Lerina ducked and aimed for his legs. He jumped back causing her to miss. Lerina stood back up. He swung and missed again.

Lerina saw an opening. Raising her blade above her head, she gave a battle cry. Kote shrunk back in preparation for a blow. As she charged, she put her face near his and smiled. He fell for her trick. Before he realized what had happened, Lerina used the momentum she acquired during her charge to deliver a massive kick to his side. She succeeded in knocking the wind out of him. Kote collapsed to the ground.

The cheer of the crowd had filled her ears once more. She had forgotten that there where even people watching. Kote looked so winded and sweaty Lerina guessed he was about done with the fight. Lerina started to walk toward the crowd to find her next challenger when she heard Kote's voice behind her.

"Where ya' going? I'm not done yet." Kote said with exhaustion.

Lerina had to admit these men, unlike some of those she fought on Nar Shadda, were not push overs, and were just as likely to give her a run for her money just as she was doing to them.

"Fine, but how about we use fists instead of swords."

"Fine by me," Kote grinned.

Kote threw a punch, but Lerina kicked it out of her way. He was making mistakes, leaving his arms out for too long. Lerina blocked his next two punches and decided to go on the offensive. She took advantage of his fatigued state. It was time to strike hard and fast. Her series of strikes aimed for his stomach, and his eyes. Lerina ended the fight with a quick kick to the head. Kote limped off the mat and sat next to Lerina's first challenger.

Lerina looked to the crowd, by now it looked as if the entire base was in the room. It sure did sound like it. The training room was packed. Almost everyone in the compound were surrounding the main skirmish floor. Another challenger rose from the crowd. The crowd seemed to be enjoying their show enough to keep sending new challengers. This man look strong like the first one she fought.

The challenger immediately charged, giving her no time to rest from her previous battles. If she wanted to keep going she would have to end this fight quick and stay light on her toes. Lerina flipped towards him and brought a kick down upon the top of his head. They separated for a moment. Lerina dodged the first punch and countered with a kick to the pocket of his arm. He threw a kick of his own but she stepped left and kicked the inside of his thigh. When he bent over due to poor balance in his now dead leg, Lerina delivered a quick blow to the face. She ducked under his next punch and maneuvered to his back. When he turned she used his own body as leverage so she could reach his face with her leg. He tripped but got to his feet quickly.

She had to give it to him, he wasn't going to give up easy. Using a lot of her energy, Lerina jumped high and kicked him in the face once more. With him stunned, he was pretty defenseless. She stuck key pressure points causing him to collapse.

The Warden from the jails walked up and dragged him off the mat then stepped onto the mat himself. He already had his weapon drawn. The crowd shouted Ty'din.

Lerina figured that Ty'din was the man's name. "Back to the swords are we?" She asked as she picked up her sword. Their blades clashed. Ty'din swung and Lerina dodged, then Lerina swung and Ty'din parried. They did this back and forth. All of her fights were like a dance, and the sound of clashing metal was the music. The fight raged on in the middle of the room.

He was giving her a run for her money. She was quick and nimble, but the burly Mando wasn't going easy on her. With a swift tackle, he had gotten her pinned on the ground laughing at her. She wasn't giving up easily either. Surprisingly, she was able to kick Ty'din's leg out from under him and shot out of his grasp. The Mando fell down with a loud thud. Lerina, quickly trying to dust herself off, found herself on the floor again. It was apparent Ty'din wasn't going to let her off easy. Lerina then did something that shocked the whole crowd, herself included. With a lightning fast swipe of her hand she sent Ty'din flying back against the wall of the arena. The crowd was stunned and silent for a moment. It seemed the only time her power presented itself was when she was on edge or in combat. However, she never really intended to use the power, it just happened without thinking.

After the shock wore off, half the crowd cheered. Ty'din, shaken but steady, got up and started to lunge at her again but was stopped before he could reach her. In surprise he turned around to see who had stopped him. He was ready to punch his lights out for being so humiliated until he saw who it was.

The man who had visited her cell and asked of her parents entered the ring. He shook his head at Ty'din. Lerina half expected him to scold his troops for abandoning their duties to watch skirmishes, and confine her to the guest quarters or at the worst throw her in a cell. Ty'din's face mellowed, and he just stepped back and looked at his boss curiously. The man motioned for Ty'din to go back to the crowd and turned around to face Lerina.

Lerina looked at the man curiously, wondering what he was about to do. He pulled out his Vibrosword and pointed it at Lerina. Discovering she had lost her sword during the fight, Lerina pulled over one of the training swords from the rack on the wall with the Force and readied it as well. How she did so, she did not know. But, now was not the time for wonder, this man obviously wanted a challenge and a challenge he would receive.

"You ready to get your butt handed to you Mandalorian? It'll be a bummer to be shown up in front of all your men!" She taunted. The crowd gasped and started laughing. She didn't know why, but there was still something about this man she did not like, which only loosened her tongue.

He smiled. "You think you can waltz right into my base and start wiping out my men? Give me your best little lady, but I must warn you. Your immature shebse will be the only thing that will be handed to today."

Lerina's face turned from a playful countenance to a look of anger and apparent embarrassment. "I'll show you who's immature!" She yelled and with that she lunged full force with sword blazing straight at the man.

Quickly, just as she had gotten up on him, he made a quick side step and parried her feeble strike. He had gotten her angry, and it was making her think irrationally just as she had done to her challengers. He swiped away every emotionally misguided slash and swipe. Lerina kept coming at him, but she would never land a hit she threw at him.

Lerina was getting frustrated and winded. She knew why she couldn't hit him. She let her emotions get the best of her, and that is why she was failing miserably. With every blow parried, Lerina felt her frustration rise to the point of where she couldn't suppress it any longer. She knew he was just playing with her, which just made her anger boil. He landed playful and infuriating blunt hits on her arms and legs. She wanted to show this Mandalorian what she could do. She wanted to do to him just as she did to Ty'din, but she couldn't control when and where she used it.

Swing after swing, stab after stab, the man blocked and knocked away every one. After every parry he would hit her on the arm with the blunt of his blade, and she would strike back with more and more ferocity. As his smile widened behind his helmet her anger enraged. Finally, out of pure irritation and frustration, Lerina did something no one was fully expecting.

The man flew back and hit the ground struggling to keep his Vibrosword up and blocking his torso. Lerina somehow shot a strong bolt of lightning at him, knocking him off his feet. It didn't deal any damage though. He had blocked it just in time, and he held his sword firm until the lighting passed out of it and into the floor. Lerina stood there stunned at what she had just pulled off. It unnerved and scared her.

Thoughts flashed through her mind in a matter of seconds. How was she able to create something of that nature? All she had been able to do before was pull and push objects to or from her. Never anything like this.

Quickly, before she could make another move, her challenger lunged at her knocking her to the ground, and he had her pinned on the floor with her arms and legs swiftly grouped together and tied with hunting wire. Her shock caused her to not even know what hit her.

The crowd, in awe, cheered louder than ever as their commander picked Lerina, kicking and screaming, up off the floor. He slung her over his shoulder and proceeded to walk through the crowd out of the training room. Lerina, knowing it was useless, quit squirming and just rested there on his shoulder as he walked her out of the building. Before she knew it he had her back in her chambers sitting on her bed.

**Lerinneia Da'len. Planet: Gree. 15:35 GST. Bleeding Skullz Guest Quarters. 14 ABY.**

Lerina, untied and bandaged, sat on the foot of her bed. The man had taken the wire off and cleaned what wounds she had. Not a word had been uttered between them until he had her settled down. Nor did she want to speak to him. He broke the silence.

"You gave my boys quite a fight out there today Lerina." He said jokingly, hoping to break the ice. "What you did to my man Ty'din, very funny." He continued to wipe a cut on her face.

He was still wearing his helmet, she had grown to despise that skull looking hunk of metal. "Why do you always wear that? It makes me mad." She replied.

She couldn't read the expression behind the mask, but she could tell he was taken aback. "Wear what?"

Lerina wondered if this guy was an idiot. How could he not know she was talking about the helmet? The last time they talked she wouldn't respond until he took it off then too. "The helmet, juma head..." she said with annoyance and attitude in her voice. For some reason, she found that she couldn't care less about the other mandalorians' helmets, but his tugged at her constantly. May it was because his helmet was unique. The visor was still "T" shaped but closures in the mask made it have an intimidating and menacing skull look. Customized teeth protruded from the bottom sides of the mask, and a dominating line of spikes lined the top of the helmet.

Carefully, he slid his helmet off and looked Lerina in the eyes. "Why does my helmet bother you so much?" He squinted at her curiously.

Lerina knew it from somewhere. That tug of recognition only grew strong and stronger everytime she looked at it. She looked down at the helmet then back at him. But where? Something was off. Something wasn't right. The idea that she couldn't pinpoint the memory frustrated her. "I… I know it from somewhere." She finally replied. Lerina seemed like she was deep in thought studying his helmet.

Her mind zipped through her memories. The farthest she could remember seeing that helmet struck at her core. She couldn't believe it. It was him! She remembered the fighting style he used from one of the security tapes she had gotten ahold of from one of the security cameras her father had set up. Lerina went into momentary shock. It all made sense now! How he knew about the death of her parents, why he made her an honorary guest! He killed them!

As she came back to her senses, fear and anger rose in her. She backed away and stared frightened into his eyes.

Lerina started to stutter. "You… it… it's you!" she squeaked out.

He lowered his head. "How did you figure it out?" He asked shamefully.

Lerina stared frightfully at him. "My… my father wasn't helpless. You… you had to fight him. I knew som...something was familiar about your fighting." She trembled. "And… and your helmet," she continued. "I remember it from all those years ago…" She started to cry. The murderer leaned in to comfort her, but she squirmed farther back and pushed him away sobbing. "You… You killed my parents!" She screamed. At that moment a gasp blurted out behind them. Lerina looked up to find a women at the door. She looked horrified to find out what this man had done. In Lerina's eyes, all of his followers should abandon him for his crimes.

When the man stood, Lerina scooted to the back of the bed. "Cyar'ika, I can explain…" the man said to the frightened women in the doorway. "Kli'ika, it's a long story. I'm not proud of it. I was a different man back then. I'm sure you have done similar acts! Why are you getting so upset?" He pleaded with her. She fell into his arms and looked over at Lerina sobbing on the bed.

Eventually he had settled the women down and let her leave the room. As he brough a chair over to the bed, all Lerina could think about was vengeance. She couldn't shake the feeling that she had to kill him for what he had done. Just how many other people had he made suffer like her?

He sat down and sighed. "I know, this is going to be hard for you to hear, but please listen to me." He said sorrowfully. "My name is An'kin Cassus. Eighteen years ago, I was a different man than I am today. I had lost my way and resorted to bounty hunting in order to make money. Your parents were Jedi with a bounty on their heads. It was my job to find them and eliminate them. Usually I wouldn't take jobs," he continued, "that only wanted the target dead, but I was desperate and needed the credits. Now I know that didn't justify my actions. And… I know I put you through haran for what I did."

He paused. Lerina sat there. She had stopped crying and was listening intently on every word he said. Like you understand! Like you know what hell you put me through! Lerina screamed in her head.

"Lerina, I'm sorry. I have to tell you something else." His eyes started to water."Today… today is the anniversary of my beloved daughter's death. Rusaan was only eighteen. The age you are now."

Lerina's eyes began to water. Just because your daughter died doesn't mean you know what I've been through. You don't know me!

He continued, "She… she was infected by the blackwing virus after a freak accident. She… she turned on me. Lerina, my own daughter… turned on me." An'kin couldn't hold back his tears any longer. He had been a toughened and seasoned warrior, but the memory of this fact still haunted him and he couldn't take the thought of his little girl coming at him with those eyes full of hunger."

I should kill you, bastard!

"I… I had… had to shoot her, Lerina." Those words hit home.

You don't know what it's like. Watching your only daughter die in your arms then turn on you with unwavering hunger! I… I had to shoot her Lerina." He sat there with his head low, holding in the tears as hard as he could.

Lerina started to bawl uncontrollably. She wanted to kill him. She wanted to take revenge for those who could not. But how could she? Was there anything left to kill? Before her sat a broken man who had suffered loss, just as she did. Before her sat a man full of regret. An'kin raised his head and looked at her. She stared straight back into his eyes. Instead of seeing the dark soulless eyes he had trained to be stone cold, she saw a broken and humbled soul. She knew, somehow, he had changed since all those years ago.

She scooted over to him and grabbed his hand. Her hand fit softly into his. An'kin looked down. She stared straight into his eyes and uttered the words in which she was dumbfounded to her herself saying. "An'kin, I… I forgive you." She said through tear filled sobs.

They both hugged each other and sat there letting the moment sink in. She cursed her soft heart. She should have taken revenge, but she couldn't. Whether or not if she truly meant the words she spoke would only be proved in the future, but now it was time to let go. It was time to make the past ghosts stop haunting her. It was time to look to the future, whatever her time here at the compound may bring.


	3. Chapter 3 (NEW CONTENT ADDED 4613)

**CH 3**

**Lerinneia Da'len. Planet: Gree. 0534 GST. Bleeding Skullz Compound. One week later. 14 ABY.**

Lerina rose early in the morning and sat alone in the darkness of her room. As far as the compound knew, she had been quiet and secluded. However, what has been going on within the room was quite different. For the past week she grew more and more frustrated as she tried to learn how to trigger her power on command. All week, when she least expected it, fragile items exploded around her, however, when she tried to accesses the force nothing happened. Kote would periodically check up on her, sometimes with food, throughout the day. Whenever he saw her frustration and a broken lamp or frame, he would encourage her and try to make her smile, but it didn't help. It only made it worse. It reminded her of how cooped up she has been and it made her feel claustrophobic.

She dressed and slipped her feet into her boots. Just one more try. Lerina closed her eyes, breathed, and concentrated on the mirror across the room. She raised her hand toward the object she wished to move. She just needed to move it, even if it was just the tiniest inch. The girl stayed there for what seemed like forever.

Giving up, Lerina let out a frustrated and disappointed grunt. She couldn't do it. All of a sudden a crack called to her from behind. She jumped around to face the noise. Everything started shattered around her. Glass fell from walls; the furnishings collapsed on itself; the end result looked like a bomb exploded in the middle of the room, and she was the source of the mayhem. She had no objection that it was her doing. Lerina sighed. She had to get out. She couldn't stay in this disaster area much longer lest the ceiling collapse from her growing anger at herself.

Lost in thought, Lerina stepped outside her room and began to wander the halls. There was not a place left to explore within the compound. But what was outside? What lay beyond the wall of trees? Maybe it was time to get some fresh air.

Making a path through the vines of the forest was difficult with the dull training sword from the combat room, but she pushed forward. Lerina followed a path that led from the compound to who knows where. The path was rugged and the forest longed to overtake it.

She made her way across the path and a clearing until she stumbled upon an ancient city. Some buildings looked to be in ruins while others, covered in overgrowth, managed to stand tall. The bones of unidentifiable creatures littered the ruins. Some were just lumpy skulls with large bug eyes, others with their thin spines attached. Were they the remains of animals? Or where they people? Lerina made her way to one of the stronger looking buildings and climbed up the vines to its roof. When she reached the top, she studied the ruins. They were not of the same design as the ones An'kin and his men were constructing back at the compound. No, the Mandalorians built things to last. These were of another architecture.

Lerina hopped from roof to roof of the erect buildings taking care not to land on any weak points. The result was a slow exploration. However, it gave her more opportunity to study them a little longer and look for signs of any creatures that had made the ruins their home. The ancient city amazed her. Where did all of the residents go? Were the bones belonging to the people who built the buildings? If so, how were they wiped out? Did the others in the compound even know that the ruins were here? These questions boggled her mind.

She leaped onto a building that was half caved in and made her way back down to the streets. Lerina wandered through a few of the buildings. From the look of the broken consoles, she had to guess these people were pretty advanced. So how did an advanced race disappear and abandon the great city? She walked through the streets for a few more hours. She felt like a cadged bird, wondrous of the life that consumed these people and their fate. Near the middle of the city stood a tall building. It looked to be in better condition than all of the others that she came across.

Lerina stepped inside. The room was dusty and the only light in the room came from the doorway, but it was enough to dimly light the area. The ground was littered with dirty dishes, toppled chairs, and broken tables. She inspected the room for any signs of life but found none. She noticed a small room off to her left. Casually she walked inside and inspected the carnage. There were old computer consoles and run down machinery of unknown uses. All she found that seemed interesting enough to explore was an old turbo lift to the right of the door. Whether or not it operated remained to be seen. Lerina entered the cramped space of the lift and started pushing random buttons and switches. Miraculously the lift began to rise. She stood inside allowing it to take her to where ever its destination lied.

The ride was shaky, slow, and unpleasant, but to Lerina's relief, it ended on the floor above the one she left. The room that outstretched before her was unbearably dark; She could not see her own hands. She reached for the glow stick she had stuck in her pocket before she left the compound and activated it. The green glow did not reach far, but it was enough. Lerina tread lightly. The room was mostly empty, with the exception of what looked to be a ten foot statue in the middle of the room. As she grew closer, the glow stick slowly illuminated more of its features. She placed her small hand on the base of the statue and began to slowly circle it. It looked, and felt, to be made of the same stone as the building. Its unusual look was horrendous. The creature had massive sad eyes, a tall forehead, six tentacles of varying sizes, lumpy skin, and a large awkward sac on the back of the skull. Lerina wanted to cringe at the sight but kept her composure. There was an area on the base in front of the figure that was large enough for Lerina to settle down for a few minutes.

Leaning on one of the strange tentacles, Lerina sat in silence as she casually tossed the glow stick up and caught it as it landed. She rested there for a few minutes doing just that. It was doubtful the lift would bring her back to the floor below; it was a miracle that it even worked long enough to bring her up. About thirteen tosses later, Lerina finally dropped the glow stick. Letting out a heavy sigh, she laid her head back and closed her eyes. She let her mind wonder freely as she hummed a melodic tune. The good acoustics in the room only made her mind wander more. She dreamed of the activity on the compound.

It seemed so real. The men were hard at work constructing whatever they were building; trainees stuck to the combat training room, Kotra sat in the yard of the training room as he started to sharpen his blade. The compound began to shake. A beam fell in the construction yard with a loud thud, causing Lerina to jump out of her dream and back into reality. She frantically looked around the room. The floor had started to crack and make noise. Within the next moment she found herself in a free fall, the crumbling statue not far behind her. The glow sticks light was gone. Everything became pitch black.

**Kote Nau'ul. Planet: Gree. 1123 GST. Bleeding Skullz Compound. 14ABY.**

Kote strolled to Lerina's quarters, breakfast in hand. Every morning he brought her breakfast. She had been refusing to exit her room ever since her confrontation with An'kin. Kote had to guess Lerina was embarrassed; then again she could be hard to read at times. Of course, being trapped in her room forced her to find ways to entertain herself, whether it be teasing Kote or breaking lights with the Force. Today would be different, he wanted a rematch. Training may be a good way to encourage her to exit her room once in a while.

He knocked on the door, the armor on his knuckles made a louder noise than he intended. No answer. He tried again and, again, received no response. Did she leave her room already? Maybe she was still asleep. Kote opened the door, eyes widened with shock. The sunlight coming through the window was enough to illuminate the horrid state of the guest room. The bed was broken in on itself, shattered lights, lamps, and wall decor were scattered all over the floor. Kote treaded with light footsteps inside. Other than the horrendous state of the room, something tugged at him and told him this emotionally dangerous girl had gotten herself into trouble. There weren't many places he could think of where she had gone.

In haste he marched down the hall and stopped one of the other residents on the floor. "You there! Have you seen Lerina?" The worry in his voice projected itself no matter how hard he tried to conceal it.

"Lerina?" The man questioned with a thoughtful and confused look upon his face.

Kote sighed, everyone knew there was a stowaway staying with them but the whole compound did not know her name. "Yes you know… the stowaway girl."

"Ah, that's her name, huh? Interesting character that one. Why are.." Kote cut him off.

"Just tell me where she is." He glared into the man's eyes. This was no time for idle conversation.

The man shrugged. "I don't keep track of the girl."

Kote let out a frustrated sigh. Someone had to see her go off somewhere. He looked down at the food he still held and gave it to the ignorant man. "Here, enjoy. Thanks for the help."

The man looked more confused than before. "Thank you?"

Kote continued through the complex checking the mess hall and the training room. If there was any sign of her, it did not make itself apparent. There was one thing left to do. If she had gotten into trouble then he would need help finding her. There was only one man he could think of that could help him, the one other person that took particular interest in her. An'kin Cassus.

He found An'kin in his quarters strapping his boots on. By now Kote had gotten his wild emotions of worry and fear under control, though his concerned look was too stubborn to leave his face. He learned the hard way back on Naboo in his days serving with the RSF to not let emotions get in the way of the mission; they only distract one from reaching the objective. He pushed his past from his head.

An'kin recognized the concern expression on Kote's face. "Yes son? Is there a problem?" An'kin asked him curiously.

"Well sir, I'm not sure. I went to go check in on Lerina earlier, and she wasn't in her room." He answered. "Things in her room often tend to get broken from time to time, but this time when I visited, her room was a mess, and she wasn't in there!" His face grew more and more concerned as he explained the situation.

An'kin sat and contemplated Kote's explanation for a moment. The look on An'kin's face said he wasn't surprised. "Any idea where she could have gone off to?" He questioned.

Kote shook his head. He had already checked where she would have most likely been. If there was another place that peaked her interest, he did not know about it. "No sir, I'm kinda worried about her."

An'kin stood up and patted Kote on the shoulder. He shot him a teasing smile. "Don't worry son, she's fine. There isn't much your girlfriend can't handle."

Kote blushed at the thought. Sure he enjoyed her company but he had never thought about it the way An'kin was jesting.

He looked amused at Kote's reaction. "Come on, ad'ika, let's go find her shall we?" He prodded Kote.

Kote agreed and anxiously followed him out the door. He was glad An'kin was willing to help him. They made their way to her room. If there was something that Kote missed, An'kin would probably find it. He stepped inside and immediately crushed a piece of broken glass. "Interesting." An'kin said under his breath. With no clues or signs of her in the living quarters, they casually made their way to the construction site.

The construction site was progressing smoothly and the first factory was almost complete. When they reached it, Kli'nah explained that one of the cranes had accidentally dropped a steel beam, but nothing was majorly damaged. Kote understood the importance of the factory, but Lerina was his top priority at the moment. Kli'nah did not know anything about Lerina, however. Kote grew more nervous with every dead lead. The fact that he still couldn't think of any places that would be interesting to her didn't help.

"Don't fret Kote. She can't be too far. We will find her." An'kin encouraged. They continued to ask around the construction site but to no avail. After about an hour of searching, they ran into Kotra, An'kin's son. He sat by the training compound sharpening his blade. "Come on Kote. Let's see if Kotra knows anything."

Kote nodded but didn't have much hope that Kotra knew much. He followed along quickly as they walked over to where Kotra was sitting.

Kotra seemed concentrated and unaware of them coming up behind him. An'kin cleared his throat and crossed his arms in a joking manner. Kotra was jerked out of his trance and looked around at An'kin and Kote. "Afternoon gents." Kotra nodded. "What seems to be the problem?" He turned back around and continued the care of his vibroblade.

An'kin walked around in front of him, whipped out his vibroblade, and proceeded to sharpen it as well. Kote couldn't help but to cling up onto a thin strip of hope that Kotra knew something. He grew more anxious and didn't like how casually An'kin was treating the situation. His honored guest was missing! Kote knew he shouldn't be worried. Lerina was probably okay, but he couldn't help growing more and more concerned for her, and he couldn't figure out why. Did he really have feelings for her? He thought about it for a moment. He was confused and unsure. All he wanted was to make sure she was safe. Once she is safe, he can sort out his feelings then.

An'kin shot a glance at Kote as he leaned in a little closer to Kotra. "Eh, not much. Just seems as though Lerina has gotten herself lost. Nobody has seen her or knows where she is. I'm not too worried." An'kin finally replied.

Kotra's eyebrows jumped up but his eyes did not waiver from his sword. "Lerina huh? I think I remember seeing her running off into the woods earlier today." Kotra looked up and pointed off into the woods behind the living quarters. "That way I think. Towards the Gree ruins over there. Haven't seen her since though. Figured she came back when I was focused on my work."

Finally a lead. The clue put Kote a little more at ease, but he didn't like the idea that she went off into the ruins alone, let alone the woods. He couldn't help but feel protective of her. She didn't need it, but still he felt it was his duty.

"Ah! What a relief. Thanks son. We best be off to find her." An'kin nodded at Kote.

"No problem, buir. Careful." Kotra said. He went back to sharpening his blade. An'kin got up and guided Kote towards the woods. "Well, let us see to it your girlfriend gets back here, aye?" He teased Kote again.

Kote blushed again and nodded. They both hiked through the jungle towards the ruins Kotra had talked about. Cutting through the vines wasn't difficult. Some of them were already cut for him, no doubt Lerina's cutting job. Not all of them were cut though, her small build allowed her to slip through places where Kote could not. They had tracked a trail leading from the compound through the woods and came to what looked to be a clearing. The ruins Lerina had probably made her way to was passed the clearing. Kote continued a few paces then realized An'kin wasn't following him. He turned around to see An'kin standing at the clearing with his eyes closed. He was confused. He had never seen An'kin like this. Something major must have had happened in this area to bother him so, but he couldn't begin to guess what.

"An'kin?" He asked. An'kin opened his eyes to Kote's words. "Is everything ok?"

An'kin looked across the field. "Yea, just… painful memories in this place." An'kin finally responded.

Kote just nodded without questioning it. He could tell it probably wasn't something An'kin wanted to talk about. He started to walk slowly across the clearing. Kote caught him looking into the sky a few times as they made their way across. Not a word was uttered until they arrived at the ruins.

**Lerinneia Da'len. Planet: Gree. 1205 GST. Ancient Gree Ruins. 14 ABY.**

The stone rested upon her body in the most unbearable fashion, the weight of it longing to crush its victim. Lerina batted open her eyes and whimpered in pain. Without her glow stick, she was rendered blind and hopeless.

Utilizing her free hand, she shoved some of the loose rubble of her body. There wasn't much that could be moved, much to her disappointment. It was slightly better however, even if it was only a few pounds. It was probably the best she could hope for at the moment. Well, other than a rescue party of course, but the likely hood of one coming was slim. Lerina wondered if anyone even knew if she was gone. Probably not, the only way they could know is if someone visited her room. Her room. At about eleven Kote would bring her breakfast. He would eventually discover her disappearance. Or so she hoped. Lerina clung to the small sliver of chance he would find her. The idea of him not coming worried her more than her the chance got her hopes up.

As far as she could tell, she was alone. Lerina attempted to slip out of the stones' hold on her, only being able to free her other hand. At least there was progress.

She struggled for hours bursting out every curse in huttese she knew. The dreaded rocks were too heavy to lift alone. She had only managed to dig out part of her chest and cut her hands. Frustrated, she rest for a moment. The thought of using the force tingled in the back of her mind, but he pushed it away. She did not want to use the very thing that had gotten her into this mess. Besides, it would probably only make matters worse. She would have to do this with her strength alone, or die trying.

**Kote Nau'ul. Lerinneia Da'len. Planet: Gree. 1323 GST. Ancient Gree Ruins. 14 ABY.**

"The ruins should be right through here." An'kin informed as they broke through some undergrowth. They peaked through some vines out at the grand, overgrown ruins of the ancient Gree city. It was mysterious and immense and looked to be a patriarch of Gree society. Broken down sky scrapers dotted the landscape, many other buildings and compounds were over grown with vines, weeds, and grass.

As they made their way into the ruins to search for Lerina, Kote stepped on something that made an intense crunching sound. He looked down to see a gruesome sight. A skull of some animal or perhaps an ancient Gree was smashed under his boot. "Uch!" Kote let out.

"Heh, get used to that Kote. Gree skeletons and ancient bones litter these ruins. Just watch your step." An'kin advised.

The further they ventured into the city, the more the trail went cold. She could be anywhere, Kote thought to himself. All they could do now was search around, but it was a big city to search for one girl who left no clues. "Lerina!? Lerina!?" Kote shouted. He listened for her response but only heard An'kin shushing him.

"Be quiet. We don't want to wake anything up if there is anything big sleeping in here."

"Sorry…" He didn't really care if a creature from Haran challenged them, no matter what they would bring it down. The ruins coming down on top of them was a larger risk. Kote walked into a small vendor shop-looking building. Everything was grown over and a couple skeletons were draped over the counter and on the floor. They were horridly abnormal. He had never seen any species like these. They were the same creature he had smashed under his boot just moments ago. Staring at the weird sight he felt a hand grab his shoulder. Startled he jumped forward and whipped around; eyes wide with shock.

"Careful Kote, It's just me." An'kin laughed.

Kote shot him an angry glare. He was so jumpy but could not pin point the source of his edginess. Maybe it was the skeletons. "Don't do that to me…"

"Come on I think I picked up her trail."

Kote's eyes lit up with hope. If he was right, they wouldn't need to continue searching the entire city. Both of them jogged over to where An'kin had spotted freshly cut vines in front of a door. They walked into a massive lobby of what seemed to be an ancient hotel or office building. It, like the rest of the town, was completely overgrown, but a small trail of crushed leaves and vines led to a little room off to the left of the lobby.

"Let's see where that leads, aye?" An'kin said. Without waiting for an answer, he followed the trail into the dark room.

Kote followed hot on his heels until An'kin stopped. He took a breath to ask why they had stopped but An'kin just shushed him. He seemed to be listening. Kote joined in. They could hear a faint noise coming from somewhere nearby. The noise seemed to be emanating from underneath the room. It sounded like a faint crying.

An'kin turned on a flashlight on his gauntlet and waved it around the room. Nothing of interest could be seen until he passed it over the floor.

"Shab." An'kin whispered to himself, but Kote heard it.

"What is i…" He stopped his question when he looked at where An'kin's flashlight was shining. There was a huge hole in the floor with trampled and ripped vines lining it. A few pieces of debris from the ceiling were sitting around the hole as well. He wondered what caused the floor to collapse. Kote was about to run over to investigate but An'kin stopped him with a hand firmly holding him back.

"Careful." An'kin slowly made his way to the edge of the hole and knelt down. He shined his flashlight down the hole. He looked above him, and, sure enough, there was a giant hole in the ceiling.

Kote looked at the two enormous gaps and probably thought the same thing as An'kin. Something or someone did something to collapse the floor and fell two stories. He wondered how anything was capable of surviving a fall like that with heavy stone.

Lerina laid in the stone's hold, exhausted and thirsty. Her hands were sticky with blood and the cuts felt like they were on fire. The pressure on her felt worse than before. She couldn't help but wonder if something else had toppled on her without her noticing. Lerina whimpered as she continued to try and move the debris. Hours she had tried but still to no avail.

"Hello!? Is anybody down there?" Someone yelled down the hole.

She stopped be whimpers for a moment. She could see light and hear voices. Finally a rescue. Lerina tried to shuffle out of her space hoping it wasn't her mind playing tricks.

"Hello? Who is down there?" the voice yelled again. Lerina opened her mouth to respond.

"Lerina!?" Another voice shouted after the other.

Kote! Unbelievable, he was able to find me. Lerina processed as she was silent for a moment. Her voice was feint but she tried to make it audible. "Kote?"

"Lerina!? Is that you?" Kote shouted back anxiously.

Lerina couldn't help but smile. "Kote! Thank goodness! I thought I was a goner!" Her feeble voice shouted back.

"Guys you have to be quiet! Lerina, this is An'kin I'm coming down to get you." An'kin said trying to quiet them down. Kote watched as An'kin attached a snare cable from his gauntlet to what looked to be a sturdy piece of rubble. Kote decided to keep watch on the upper level.

Lerina watched as he slowly made his decent into the cavern. "I'm over here! I'm trapped under some stinking rubble!" Lerina shouted at him. An'kin shined his flashlight over towards her voice. She could finally see what she was trapped under. Lerina was pinned up against the side of what looked to be a tunnel that ran under the building and a flat wall of steel shrapnel. She wondered if the tunnel ran under the entire city. If so, would anyone still be alive down there?

"Lerina please be quiet! Who knows what could be down here!" He quietly projected down the hole.

She wondered if he was thinking the same thing. If someone did survive down there, he or she would probably have weapons. But yet, she felt she couldn't contain the excitement and relief.

An'kin was almost to the bottom when a loud snap resounded from above him. His armor made a thwack as he fell in a heap on the floor of the tunnel. Groaning, he got up and dusted himself off. "What happened?" He said in a hushed yell back up to Kote.

"The rubble gave way! There was nothing I could do!" Kote shouted in response without effort to keep his voice down.

"Shush it, di'kut!" An'kin tried to get Kote to be quiet. He reeled back in the wire then stumbled over to Lerina and tried to lift the giant wall of rubble off of her. "How did yah get into this mess?" He asked in an amused but relived tone while shaking his head. Lerina could not tell if he was smiling or not behind his helmet, but his tone caused her to imagine one on his face. The wall was heavy, and even An'kin couldn't lift it by himself.

"Well…" She started to explain embarrassed, "I wanted to explore a little. Found my way here and decided to take a breather on this statue on the second floor." She put her hands on the rubble to try and help, but she guessed she wasn't doing much. She grunted with effort. "When I closed my eyes I could see the compound. It don't know if I was asleep or what… but in my dream, I saw the construction and I was one of the beams fall. Weird dream huh?" She paused. "Well then next thing I knew there was a large crack sound and the floor beneath me crumbled. I'm surprised I wasn't killed!"

"Yeah, you are lucky. This was a long fall! How did you not get hurt more than you are?" He said trying to find a way to lift the rubble off of her.

"I… I don't know. I kinda blacked out when the floor caved in. Next thing I know I'm waking up under this wall not being able to see anything." Tears of relief fell down her cheeks. If they hadn't been here, she probably would not have a chance to make it out alive. "Thank you for finding me! I thought I was going to die!" Note to self, don't go exploring ruins ever. Again. She thought to herself.

"Shhh. It's ok I'm here now. Calm down and let's see if we can get you out of here." An'kin told her in a hushed reassuring tone. He paced around the rubble that had her trapped. A low rumble came from the tunnel behind them. An'kin shot up and pointed his flashlight down the tunnel. The tunnel was wide and dark. The sound seemed to be getting closer.

Lerina's eyes widened. "What is that?" She said frightened.

"Lerina… ok let's go! You have to use the Force! Help me lift this off of you!" His voice was more rushed and anxious than before.

"But, But I can't!" The last thing she wanted was to trap everyone here.

"Yes you can! If you don't you very likely may become paste in the next 10 seconds!" An'kin slid down and tried as hard as he could to lift the wreckage off of her. Then, a loud roar resounded closer than before. An'kin looked up as he pointed the flashlight towards the sound.

Lerina tried to turn her head but could barely see it. But she could feel it. Something was there, and it was big. From what she could tell the creature had a set of brilliantly bright white eyes, shining teeth, and grey- green scaly skin. It eyed An'kin and flailed its slimy tongue. It looked deadly, and hungry. "What. Is. That?" Lerina asked.

"What's wrong!?" Kote shouted from up above. After he did the creature lunged for An'kin.

An'kin dropped the wall back onto Lerina to dodge the creature's razor sharp fangs. He pulled out his vibroblade. Lerina observed the creature's movements. It was slow and needed room to maneuver due to its size.

Lerina screamed in pain as the monster smashed against the wall beside her after An'kin dodged its lunge. The creature heard her scream and readied for a blow at her. It was just about to charge at her when An'kin ran into it, knocking the creature back down on its belly. They could see it a little better when his light flashed across it. It was about a meter tall, but it was long with four legs and a thick muscly hide. Lerina desperately tried to dig herself out once more, letting adrenaline pick up slack and help her ignore her wounds. An'kin drove his vibroblade into the animal's gut while it was still staggered, but it only made the creature more angry. The blade sunk into its skin and was swallowed up in its mass of flesh and scales. The animal jumped back up and came at An'kin. It had his arm locked in its strong jaws. Lucky for An'kin, his armor kept the beast's teeth from puncturing through. It swung An'kin across the tunnel smashing him against the opposite wall.

"What is going on down there!?" Kote yelled out from above. He felt so helpless. He heard Lerina's screaming and what sounded like the creature tearing An'kin apart. Tears filled his eyes with the thought that he may never see Lerina or An'kin again. Sounds of crashes and roars shot out of the hole, resonating through the building. It only took less than a moment to make his decision to climb down there but to him it felt like a life time. He had no cable so he would have to climb down slowly. If he made one error it might be the end of him. But he still had to try. "Guys please be ok!" Kote yelled down, even though it was for more of his reassurance. He heard Lerina scream again.

Back down in the hole the creature had An'kin pinned against the rubble. The added weight pushing down on Lerina started to crush her. An'kin was trying his best to fend the beast off, but it was a tough fight. The beast was trying to shake him and tear at him, but his armor wasn't letting up. He, however, was starting to get fatigued.

"Lerina!" He choked out. "You have to use the Force! If you want us to get out of this alive you have to try!"

Lerina closed her eyes and tried to concentrate. She had no idea how she was able to access the force all those other times, the only connection she knew was through her adrenaline. But now it seemed to be failing her. "I'm trying! I… I can't!" It couldn't be that she just didn't want to use it, all the other times it came as a shock and out of nowhere.

The monster finally released An'kin off the wreckage but flung him once again across the tunnel. The monster stood there panting and staring at An'kin. He struggled to lift himself up off the ground.

Lerina spotted a rock and chucked it full force. It only bounced off its head but she succeeded in grabbing its attention. It turned around towards Lerina. "Come get me you fat swine!" Lerina hopped An'kin would take the hint to get himself out of the hole. This was likely the only opening he was going to get and if it meant that she had to sacrifice herself so him and Kote could get out in one piece, it was ok with her. The creature growled and slowly slinked over Lerina bearing his fangs with slobber dripping from its mouth. Lerina tried to back up as far as she could, but there wasn't much she could do. The monster reared back than went for a strike right at Lerina's head with mouth wide and teeth shining. Its breath smelled like bantha fodder. Lerina screamed as she thought this was it when a rush of air blew passed her face, and the monster let out a painful shriek. She looked up startled to see what had happened.

An'kin was on top of the monster with a blaster pistol to its head. The creature scrambled and tossed around trying to knock An'kin off of it, but he was steady. Lerina hated being so helpless. She wanted to tackle the monster herself and show it who was boss. Her thoughts were immediately brought to An'kin face. It was full of anger and awareness. She hadn't seen the look he had on his face ever since she witnessed him murder her parents all those years ago. It brought back painful and fearful memories. But now was not the time to dwell. There would be plenty of time for that later.

With a swift punch to the throat of the creature, An'kin stunned it enough to get off three clean shots to its head. Lerina watched as the creature finally fell limp on the ground. She sat there relieved and just started crying. Her stupidity had put everyone's life at risk, and that wasn't even counting the kell dragon. But, because of An'kin's strength, everything was calm again.

An'kin centered himself, slid off the creature, and dug his vibroblade out of its hide. He then quickly slid over to Lerina and held her in his arms as she wept. She was in disbelief and awe. The man, who had killed her parents for reasons beyond her knowing, had just saved her life with his courage.

A thud behind him startled her, and An'kin whipped around with is pistol ready.

"Woah! Woah! It's me!" Kote said reassuringly.

An'kin sighed in relief. "Where were you this whole time? Wasn't like I could have used your help or anything…" An'kin looked unamused.

Kote made an embarrassed glance at him. "I… I'm sorry. I had to slowly climb down the hole." Would have been here sooner if I had a cable. He thought to himself.

"Don't worry about it. Here help me lift this off Lerina."

Lerina was still sobbing a little bit but looked up to watch the two men finally lift the rubble off of her. She started to brush off what was left. Relief washed over her. The pressure the rubble caused had finally lifted off of her.

When she was free at last, Kote rushed over and hugged her. "Don't do that again! You had me worried sick!" His tone formed into a calm relieved one.

She blushed but slowly began to hug him back, keeping her palms off of him to prevent blood from staining his armor. Lerina resisted the urge to make a comical remark. She wanted to enjoy the moment. It was… nice.

"Alright love birds, we need to get out of here." An'kin jokingly remarked.

Kote turned around with a disapproving stare. He felt a duty to watch her back and wanted to hold true to it. If that made them love birds then so be it.

Lerina's attention shifted from Kote to the creature. "What was that thing?" Lerina squeaked out.

"That, that was a Kell Dragon. A juvenile by the looks of him. Last time I saw one of these was on Lok many years ago." He explained as he examined the beast.

"A… A juvenile?" Lerina replied nervously. Her eyes grew wide with realization. "Does that mean… there could be more? And bigger ones?"

An'kin shot her a curious look. "You're right. We need to hurry up. Come on." He said as he picked Lerina up in his arms. Lerina made sure not to touch his armor with her palms as well. Kote followed closely behind as they walked back to the opening of the hole. He reached around Kote's waist and shot his snare cable up the hole. He checked to make sure that the cord was taught.

"Alright, let's hope it holds this time." He said. And with that, he activated a button on his gauntlet, and the three of them shot up through the hole as the wire retracted back inside his gauntlet.

Lerina hoped the same. She didn't think she would be able to climb out of the hole, without assistance any way.

When they finally made it to the top, An'kin got everyone settled down. Kote went out to scout the outside while An'kin knelt down beside Lerina who was brushing herself off and wiping her tears. She looked up at him, her face covered in wet dirt and sticky blood.

"Look, Lerina." An'kin said. "I can't help you with this Force thing, and I think it is best that you stop trying to use it to avoid future problems like this, ok?"

Lerina nodded. As if I hadn't already thought of that. She thought to herself. Saying nothing in reply, she listened.

"I can train you, however."

Lerina looked up at him with curious eyes. She was weak and she didn't understand why he would want to waste time trying to train her.

"I think it's about time you start training to be a Mandalorian. You've grown to be a likable addition to our little organization considering your short time here. I think it's about time you start pulling some weight around here. What do ya' say?" He smiled. She paused for a moment. He just sat there patiently waiting for her reply.

He was giving her a second chance, just as she did for him. She was finally accepted somewhere. She was home. "I… I think I can do that." She finally affirmed.

"Good. Now let's get out of here, aye?" He picked her up and headed back to the compound with Kote following closely behind.

Lerina knew that this would be a major turning point in her life. She had come from a trouble making sneak on Nar Shadda to being embraced by a proud and honorable Mando'a who decided to accept the challenge of training her in his ancestor's ways. Whether or not it was the right decision, she would have to discover later; but it felt perfect in her book.

Back at the compound An'kin stood her next to Kote. She favored her right leg.

"Kote, look after her alright? I expect to see both of you in the sparing circle outside the training rooms tomorrow morning! Seven o'clock sharp!" He gave them a playful but asserting grin.

"Yes sir!" Kote replied quickly. His duty was now made official. Look after her well-being. He watched An'kin stroll back to the construction site, no doubt to tell his wife what had happened. Kote looked at Lerina and gave her a sheepish smile.

She gave him a playful glare back and punched him in the arm. Lerina loved to tease him; sometimes it seemed to be the highlight of her day. His comments back always made the two laugh. "Let's go have some fun!" She said in excitement. It felt good to be home. It was a feeling she had not felt in what seemed like a life time.

Kote shook his head. She always wanted to stir up trouble even after she had just gotten out of it. He knew she wasn't going to make his new found responsibility easy. No, that would be too boring.


End file.
